I think it's silly to claim that we somehow couldn't protect ourselves from the government if assault rifles were banned. My great uncle was in the IRA, and I can personally attest to the efficaciousness of pipe bombs in such situations. Just saying! Besides, I'd love to see anyone try to take on our government's tanks, drones, etc. with a puny assault weapon. It's a ridiculous fantasy to think that machine guns will somehow protect us from government tyranny.

I'm all for having guns to hunt, but no one needs an AK-47 to bring down a deer. I grew up with guns around, but they were rifles and shotguns that held under 10 rounds, not assault rifles. I don't want to be lumped in with the people screaming about how they NEED their automatic weapons. And frankly, I oppose the NRA. The insensitivity of their campaigns of late, and their refusal to address gun violence in any meaningful way has made it clear that they do not represent gun owners, they represent the gun industry. The gun industry doesn't care about little kids dying, or our communities being made unsafe. They care about money and that's it. They are not a reasonable organization. They are the gun equivalent of PETA.

Finally, NO ONE is proposing we ban all guns. Anyone suggesting otherwise is being intellectually dishonest. I am tired of the hyperbole in this regard. There is a difference between a weapon that can fire 20+ rounds without reloading and one that cannot. It's not that hard to see why banning the incredibly lethal ones could help prevent mass casualties. The time to take out a shooter is during a reload, as anyone on a SWAT team can tell you.

Oops, forgot I wanted to add something. I have a bachelor's degree in the sociology of law, crime, and deviance. So please believe me when I say there is little we can gain from comparing crime rates in specific places within the U.S with more or less restrictive gun laws. There are too many other variables to be able to say that crime is or is not impacted by gun laws in a specific location. It would be confusing correlation and causation to just look at the data like that. It works better to look at countries' crime rates and gun laws.

The overall consensus is that the U.S. is the most culturally violent developed country in the world, and taking guns away won't fix that. Other countries, like Switzerland, with comparable gun ownership rates do not have the same problems with violent crime that we do. Especially in the south, there is an "honor" culture dating back to antebellum society in which insults to a person's honor are expected to be met with violence. This is not stereotyping, there is real data behind this. We NEED to find a way to stop being so violent. It is not human nature, because people in other countries don't have this problem. There is something about American culture that makes us more likely to react with violence. We need to fix that. It's not about "crazy" people, as much as we'd like to think that. The truth is, we are all more violent than our first-world counterparts. I was born and raised in this country and I can admit that. Maybe the first step is everyone else admitting it too, instead of being offended when someone brings it up, or villainizing the mentally unstable.

We are also more free than our oppressed counterparts! And if you actually look at correct stats you would see that places with gun control in this country also have higher crime rates.

I don't care what you have in what, I've seen doctors that are bigger airheads than a construction worker. Banning high cap magazines will do nothing as I have seen a man fire a 10 shot pistol faster than a machine gun and switch out the mag without stopping. His grouping at 25 yards would be all killshots too. So tell me again about those "evil" magazines.

And your use of the term assault weapons only proves your own ignorence because assault weapons have been illegal for a very long time. The ones they sell are NOT ASSAULT WEAPONS, they are look a likes nothing more and no more dangerous than my .22 rifle. The difference is real assault weapons allow a change in the rate of fire.

No one needs to hunt deer, and no you don't need to hunt it with a black rifle but it is our right to. You also show your complete ignorence of the laws concerning hunting as no one is going to use a high capacity magazine to hunt deer as it is also illegal. Though the round they use (.223 and .308 or 5.56 and 7.62) are common hunting rounds.

Also you forget criminals don't follow the law anyway so they will only disarm lawful citizens. And look at the recent mass shootings commited by oh that's right the mentally ill, so yeah do keep on treating them like they're normal. And the killings will continue but with less people to stop them.

And if I were the government I wouldn't worry about those who need a hundred bullets, I'd be terrified of the man who only wants one. Because history has proven that one bullet is far more devastating to a country than a thousand.

Oh and before I go why don't you look up some time how many people are killed per year by cars and alcohol as compared to guns. Uh oh better ban those next!

We are also more free than our oppressed counterparts! And if you actually look at correct stats you would see that places with gun control in this country also have higher crime rates.

I don't care what you have in what, I've seen doctors that are bigger airheads than a construction worker. Banning high cap magazines will do nothing as I have seen a man fire a 10 shot pistol faster than a machine gun and switch out the mag without stopping. His grouping at 25 yards would be all killshots too. So tell me again about those "evil" magazines.

And your use of the term assault weapons only proves your own ignorence because assault weapons have been illegal for a very long time. The ones they sell are NOT ASSAULT WEAPONS, they are look a likes nothing more and no more dangerous than my .22 rifle. The difference is real assault weapons allow a change in the rate of fire.

No one needs to hunt deer, and no you don't need to hunt it with a black rifle but it is our right to. You also show your complete ignorence of the laws concerning hunting as no one is going to use a high capacity magazine to hunt deer as it is also illegal. Though the round they use (.223 and .308 or 5.56 and 7.62) are common hunting rounds.

Also you forget criminals don't follow the law anyway so they will only disarm lawful citizens. And look at the recent mass shootings commited by oh that's right the mentally ill, so yeah do keep on treating them like they're normal. And the killings will continue but with less people to stop them.

And if I were the government I wouldn't worry about those who need a hundred bullets, I'd be terrified of the man who only wants one. Because history has proven that one bullet is far more devastating to a country than a thousand.

Oh and before I go why don't you look up some time how many people are killed per year by cars and alcohol as compared to guns. Uh oh better ban those next!

I thought I had finally found a discussion that didn't reduce this complicated subject to trite platitudes and personal insults. I guess not. Sigh.

IMO, I'd Like to say ban them.....but honestly.......its too late. every Tom, Dick and harry has one, and no way they are all coming back in now. The situation has gone too far. Things will just continue as is etc. I've read about some new fangled plan by some states to micro-chip guns to stop these atrocities the whole world gets to hear about...... what an absolute failure of a bureaucratic idea that is....The feasibility of that is just ridiculous.

But what to do? Meh, like i said, waaaaaaay too late, most of you love your guns and i can understand the personal security etc of them in the country you live in when guns are so rife. Education of the next generations etc? Not that guns are bad, but responsible use and making them realize what can and will happen. One thing i do love about the US is your prison sentences, life means life.....life here is around 14 years or something close average prison sentence....which is pathetic.

Your degree has nothing to do with the crime rates. Crime rates are higher in areas with gun banning because the citzens are forced to "bring a knife to a gun fight"

OK, as I stated before, you have no proof that gun laws have anything more to do with crime rates than the huge array of other variables contributing to crime such as rates of poverty, addiction, broken families, high school graduation, economic climate etc. etc. etc. You also haven't provided any evidence that the opposite is not true (that the reason these areas have gun bans us because they have high crime rates to begin with and are trying to bring them down). I only mentioned my degree because I studied statistics with regard to crime, so actually yes it does have plenty to do with crime rates, and also finding out the reasons people commit violent crimes.

Um....yeah. I do. Just go do the google dance for current crime stats. Crime rates are significantly higher in areas that are gun restrictive or banned.
So instead of pointing the finger at someone else. Go look at yourself in the mirror. You never bothered to provide proof for your statements either.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the Betta Fish and Betta Fish Care forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.